Clipped video of Rahul Gandhi’s press conference amplified by BJP leaders

A four-second video clip of Rahul Gandhi is viral on social media. Here, he can be heard saying, “We are fighting against India’s entire infrastructure.” BJP leaders, workers, and social media users are circulating this video, calling the remark dangerous and anti-national.

BJP IT cell in-charge Amit Malviya tweeted this short clip of Rahul Gandhi and wrote, “If Rahul Gandhi’s prater were not puerile, they would be deeply dangerous.” (Archived link)

If Rahul Gandhi’s prater weren’t puerile, they would be deeply dangerous… pic.twitter.com/QISIDV3xTn

— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) August 5, 2022

BJP worker Priti Gandhi also amplified this clip and added that Rahul Gandhi is fighting against the entire infrastructure of India. (Archived link)

राहुल गांधी हिंदुस्तान के पूरे इंफ्रास्ट्रक्चर के खिलाफ लड़ रहे हैं!

ऐसा मैं नहीं, वे स्वयं कह रहे हैं!! pic.twitter.com/svbsWmsHpP

— Priti Gandhi – प्रीति गांधी (@MrsGandhi) August 5, 2022

BJP Delhi treasurer Visshnu Mittal also made a similar claim while tweeting the video. (Archived link)

स्वाभाविक है राहुल गांधी कि आपको देश का विकास नहीं सुहाता। चीन से एमओयू साइन करने वाले को भला भारत का इंफ्रास्ट्रक्चर क्यों अच्छा लगेगा। आप लड़िए देश के इंफ्रास्ट्रक्चर के खिलाफ, देश आपको इस लायक छोड़ेगा ही नहीं कि आपके कुछ करने से कुछ फर्क पड़ सके। pic.twitter.com/jtBGrqBBZ4

— Visshnu Mittal (@visshnumittal) August 5, 2022

Similarly, many social media handles including BJP Maharashtra, Maldhari Sena Gujarat president Dinesh Desai, and author Ravi Ranjan tweeted this video with the same claim.

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Fact-check

Alt News closely examined Rahul Gandhi’s YouTube channel to gather more information on this video. The full video of this press conference was uploaded on Rahul Gandhi’s YouTube channel on August 4. We listened to the press conference in its entirety.

Responding to a question asked at the 11:30 minute mark, Rahul says, “The opposition that fights in democracy fights on the strength of the institution. This means that the opposition derives its power from the country’s legal structure, judicial structure, electoral structure, and the media. All these institutions are giving full support to the government. Why? Because the government has installed its own workers inside these institutions. Today, not a single institution in India is independent. Today, every institution in India is under RSS control. Every institution has at least one RSS member sitting inside these institutions. So, we are not fighting a single political party, we are fighting against India’s entire infrastructure. When Congress was in power, the infrastructure was neutral, we did not control the infrastructure. Two or three political parties would compete against each other. Today, the infrastructure belongs to the government, it belongs entirely to one party. The country’s financial infrastructure belongs to them. If anyone wants to support another political party, they are threatened and intimidated by bodies like the ED and CBI. Then there is the financial monopoly held by the BJP and the institutional monopoly of the RSS. That’s why the opposition is effectively and aggressively coming forward, but the impact that this should have had is not visible.”

Evidently, BJP IT cell head Amit Malviya and various other BJP supporters took a small clip from Rahul Gandhi’s press briefing and shared it out of context.

This is not the first time that the BJP IT cell in-charge has been found spreading misleading information. In the past, Alt News has debunked many instances of Amit Malviya sharing false information.